Following a rule is practice mastery, not interpretation of a theory.

Evidence

As a consequence, notes Tully, a general rule cannot ‘account for precisdy the phenomenon we associate with understanding the meaning of a general term: the ability to use a general term, as well as to question its accepted use, in various circumstances without recursive doubts’ . This should lcad us to abandon thc idea that the rulc and its interprctation ‘determinc meaning’ and to recognize that understanding a gencral term does not consist in grasping a thcory but coincides with the ability of using it in diffcrent circumstances. For Wittgenstdn, ‘obcying a rulc’ is a practice and our understanding of rules consists in the mastery of a techniquc. The use of general terms is therefore to be seen as intersub;ectivc ‘practiccs’ or ‘customs’ not that different from games like chess or tcnnis. This is why Wittgenstcin insists that it is a mistake to cnvisage evcry action according to a rulc as an ‘intcrpretation’ and that ‘thcre is a way of grasping a rulc which is not an inttrpmalion. but which is exhibited in what we call “obeying the rulc” and “going against it” in actual cases’. 19 Tully considers that thc wide-ranging consequences of this point are missed whcn onc affirms. — Chantal Mouffe, The Democratic Paradox, 332

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Mastering a theory’s principles alone does not ensure correct application; Subjectivity forms through practice, not prior to it. — Yael Arbell, The Circle of Commoning:…, 85; Theory must prove itself theoretically rather than gesture toward practice — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1202 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Grasping a theory’s main principles is insufficient for correct application. #expands (0.90)
• Mastering a theory’s principles alone does not ensure correct application #corroborates (0.88)
• A rule only counts when enforced in practice #corroborates (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 54
• Subjectivity forms through practice, not prior to it. #expands (0.82) — Yael Arbell, The Circle of Commoning, 85
• Piety’s ethical reasoning is a self-scrutinizing practice, not universal rule application #exemplifies (0.82)
• Possessing a political term does not make one a practitioner of it #exemplifies (0.80)
• Creative schooling means mastering a method, not producing novelties #exemplifies (0.78)
• Outward practice produces inward virtue rather than merely expressing it #exemplifies (0.78) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 1021
• A person’s real philosophy is expressed in action, not declared belief #exemplifies (0.76) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1180
• Theory must prove itself theoretically rather than gesture toward practice #complicates (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 1202
• Authority over a topic belongs to its trained practitioners, not outsiders #corroborates (0.74) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 320
• Authority rests on learned competence within a division of labor, not grace #corroborates (0.73) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 217